Location notification method, location notification system, information processing apparatus, wireless communication apparatus and program

ABSTRACT

There is provided a wireless communication apparatus including a base station information input portion to input base station information of a base station transmitting a radio wave having a wave reaching range including a particular location, the base station information acquired from a first memory storing a plurality of pieces of base station information containing a base station ID, a recording portion to record the base station information input to the base station information input portion into a second memory placed in the wireless communication apparatus, a reception portion to receive the radio wave transmitted from a surrounding base station, and a notification processing portion to perform prescribed notification processing based on a determination result whether the wireless communication apparatus exists in the particular location.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention contains subject matter related to Japanese PatentApplication JP 2007-109830 filed in the Japan Patent Office on Apr. 18,2007, the entire contents of which being incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a location notification method, alocation notification system, an information processing apparatus, awireless communication apparatus and a program.

2. Description of the Related Art

A person takes some measures to help his/her memory, such as making amemo or storing things to remember in a computer. For example, a personcan make a memo which indicates a remainder item such as “buy a notebookin a convenience store” or “stop by the gallery ABC on occasion to visitKinza town next week”.

However, a person needs to remember each reminder item in a particularcontext (situation). For example, a person needs to remember that he/sheshould “buy a notebook” at the time “before arriving at the workplacetomorrow” in the vicinity of the place “a convenience store”. In otherwords, a person preferably remembers each reminder item in anappropriate time and place.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-194726, forexample, discloses a technique which is accomplished in light of theabove issue. According to this technique, an information processingapparatus estimates its location using GPS (Global Positioning System),for example, and, if the information processing apparatus estimates thatit is in a prescribed location, it notifies given information to a userof the information processing apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, when an existing information processing apparatus estimates itsown location based on a WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) wave which istransmitted from a surrounding base station, it is necessary for theinformation processing apparatus to store the location information of alarge number of base stations in light of the possibility that theinformation processing apparatus is brought to various places. Thiscauses an increase in the memory capacity of the information processingapparatus which is necessary for storing the location information ofbase stations.

In light of the foregoing, there is a need for new, improved locationnotification method, location notification system, informationprocessing apparatus, wireless communication apparatus and program whichare capable of performing prescribed notification processing accordingto an existing location with a reduced amount of stored information onbase stations.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided alocation notification method which includes the steps of inputtinglocation information indicating a given location, acquiring base stationinformation, which contains a base station ID, of a base stationtransmitting a radio wave having a wave reaching range including thelocation indicated by the location information from a first memorystoring a plurality of pieces of base station information of basestations, recording the base station information acquired from the firstmemory into a second memory placed in a wireless communicationapparatus, receiving a radio wave containing a base station ID from asurrounding base station by the wireless communication apparatus,determining whether the wireless communication apparatus exists in thelocation indicated by the location information based on the radio wavereceived by the wireless communication apparatus and the base stationinformation stored in the second memory, and performing prescribednotification processing based on a determination result whether thewireless communication apparatus exists in the location indicated by thelocation information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a location notification system which includes a wirelesscommunication apparatus capable of receiving a radio wave containing abase station ID transmitted from a base station of wirelesscommunication, and an information processing apparatus connected withthe wireless communication apparatus. Specifically, the informationprocessing apparatus includes a location information input portion toinput location information indicating a given location, an acquisitionportion to acquire base station information, which contains a basestation ID, of a base station transmitting a radio wave having a wavereaching range including the location indicated by the locationinformation input to the location information input portion from a firstmemory storing a plurality of pieces of base station information of basestations, and an output portion to output the base station informationacquired by the acquisition portion to the wireless communicationapparatus. The wireless communication apparatus includes a base stationinformation input portion to input the base station information outputfrom the output portion, a recording portion to record the base stationinformation input to the base station information input portion into asecond memory placed in the wireless communication apparatus, areception portion to receive the radio wave transmitted from asurrounding base station, a determination portion to determine whetherthe wireless communication apparatus exists in the location indicated bythe location information based on the radio wave received by thereception portion and the base station information stored in the secondmemory, and a notification processing portion to perform prescribednotification processing based on a determination result of thedetermination portion whether the wireless communication apparatusexists in the location indicated by the location information.

In this configuration, the acquisition portion acquires the base stationinformation of the base station which transmits the radio wave thatreaches the particular location indicated by the location informationinput to the location information input portion. The base stationinformation may include a base station ID and location informationindicating the location of a base station. The acquisition portion thenacquires the base station information of the base station whichtransmits the radio wave that reaches the particular location from thefirst memory storing a plurality of pieces of base station information.Then, the output portion outputs the base station information which isacquired by the acquisition portion to the wireless communicationapparatus. The base station information is input to the base stationinformation input portion of the wireless communication apparatus, andthe recording portion records the base station information of the basestation which transmits the radio wave having a wave reaching rangeincluding the particular location into the second memory. Then, thedetermination portion determines whether the wireless communicationapparatus exists in the particular location based on the radio wavewhich is transmitted from a surrounding base station and the basestation information which is stored in the second memory. For example,the determination portion estimates the location of the wirelesscommunication apparatus based on the radio wave which is transmittedfrom a surrounding base station and the base station informationcontaining location information of each base station which is stored inthe second memory, and determines whether the estimated locationcorresponds to the particular location. Then, the notificationprocessing portion performs prescribed notification processing based ona determination result of the determination portion as to whether thewireless communication apparatus exists in the particular location. Forexample, the notification processing portion notifies a user of thewireless communication apparatus that the wireless communicationapparatus exists in the particular location when the determinationportion determines that the wireless communication apparatus exists inthe particular location.

The base station information which is input to the base stationinformation input portion is selectively acquired by the acquisitionportion of the information processing apparatus from the first memorywhich stores a plurality of pieces of base station information. Thus,the base station information which is necessary to determine whether thewireless communication apparatus exists in a particular location isselectively recorded in the second memory. The data amount of the basestation information which is stored in the second memory of the wirelesscommunication apparatus is thereby reduced, so that the wirelesscommunication apparatus can perform prescribed notification processingaccording to the existing location of the wireless communicationapparatus with a small hardware scale.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided an information processing apparatus connected with a wirelesscommunication apparatus capable of receiving a radio wave containing abase station ID transmitted from a base station of wirelesscommunication, which includes a location information input portion toinput location information indicating a given location, an acquisitionportion to acquire base station information, which contains a basestation ID, of a base station transmitting a radio wave having a wavereaching range including the location indicated by the locationinformation input to the location information input portion from a firstmemory storing a plurality of pieces of base station information of basestations, and an output portion to output the base station informationacquired by the acquisition portion to the wireless communicationapparatus.

In this configuration, the acquisition portion acquires the base stationinformation of the base station which transmits the radio wave thatreaches the particular location indicated by the location informationinput to the location information input portion. The base stationinformation may include a base station ID and location informationindicating the location of a base station. The acquisition portion thenacquires the base station information of the base station whichtransmits the radio wave that reaches the particular location from thefirst memory storing a plurality of pieces of base station information.Then, the output portion outputs the base station information which isacquired by the acquisition portion to the wireless communicationapparatus. The determination as to whether the wireless communicationapparatus exists in the particular location may be performed based onthe reception condition (e.g. the reception strength of the radio wavefor each base station) of the radio wave that reaches the particularlocation in the wireless communication apparatus. Thus, the informationprocessing apparatus selectively outputs the base station information ofthe base station which transmits the radio wave that reaches theparticular location to the wireless communication apparatus, therebyallowing the wireless communication apparatus to determine whether it isin the particular location based on the base station information that isinput from the information processing apparatus.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a program for causing a computer to serve as an informationprocessing apparatus connected with a wireless communication apparatuscapable of receiving a radio wave containing a base station IDtransmitted from a base station of wireless communication. Specifically,the information processing apparatus includes a location informationinput portion to input location information indicating a given location,an acquisition portion to acquire base station information, whichcontains a base station ID, of a base station transmitting a radio wavehaving a wave reaching range including the location indicated by thelocation information input to the location information input portionfrom a first memory storing a plurality of pieces of base stationinformation of base stations, and an output portion to output the basestation information acquired by the acquisition portion to the wirelesscommunication apparatus

The above program can cause a hardware resource of a computer includingCPU, ROM, RAM or the like to execute the functions of each element ofthe location information input portion, the acquisition portion and theoutput portion described above. It is therefore possible to cause acomputer that implements the program to serve as the above-describedinformation processing apparatus.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a wireless communication apparatus capable of receiving a radiowave containing a base station ID transmitted from a base station ofwireless communication, which includes a base station information inputportion to input base station information of a base station transmittinga radio wave having a wave reaching range including a particularlocation, the base station information acquired from a first memorystoring a plurality of pieces of base station information containing abase station ID, a recording portion to record the base stationinformation input to the base station information input portion into asecond memory placed in the wireless communication apparatus, areception portion to receive the radio wave transmitted from asurrounding base station, a determination portion to determine whetherthe wireless communication apparatus exists in the particular locationbased on the radio wave received by the reception portion and the basestation information stored in the second memory, and a notificationprocessing portion to perform prescribed notification processing basedon a determination result of the determination portion whether thewireless communication apparatus exists in the particular location.

In this configuration, the recording portion records the base stationinformation of the base station which transmits the radio wave having awave reaching range including the particular location input to thelocation information input portion into the second memory. Then, thedetermination portion determines whether the wireless communicationapparatus exists in the particular location based on the radio wavewhich is transmitted from a surrounding base station and the basestation information which is stored in the second memory. For example,the determination portion estimates the location of the wirelesscommunication apparatus based on the radio wave which is transmittedfrom a surrounding base station and the base station informationcontaining location information of each base station which is stored inthe second memory, and determines whether the estimated locationcorresponds to the particular location. Then, the notificationprocessing portion performs prescribed notification processing based ona determination result of the determination portion as to whether thewireless communication apparatus exists in the particular location. Forexample, the notification processing portion notifies a user of thewireless communication apparatus that the wireless communicationapparatus exists in the particular location when the determinationportion determines that the wireless communication apparatus exists inthe particular location.

The base station information which is input to the base stationinformation input portion is selectively acquired from the first memorywhich stores a plurality of pieces of base station information. Thus,the base station information which is necessary to determine whether thewireless communication apparatus exists in a particular location isselectively recorded in the second memory. The data amount of the basestation information which is stored in the second memory of the wirelesscommunication apparatus is thereby reduced, so that the wirelesscommunication apparatus can perform prescribed notification processingaccording to the existing location of the wireless communicationapparatus with a small hardware scale.

In the above wireless communication apparatus, the reception portion mayreceive the radio wave transmitted from the surrounding base station ata prescribed frequency. This configuration eliminates the necessity forthe reception portion to operate at all times, thereby reducing thepower consumption in the wireless communication apparatus.

The wireless communication apparatus may further include a distanceevaluation portion to evaluate a distance between a location of thewireless communication apparatus and the particular location based onthe radio wave received by the reception portion and the base stationinformation stored in the second memory, and the reception portion mayreduce a frequency of receiving the radio wave transmitted from thesurrounding base station as the distance between the location of thewireless communication apparatus and the particular location evaluatedby the distance evaluation portion is longer. Generally, as a distancebetween the location of the wireless communication apparatus and theparticular location is larger, a time that is necessary for the wirelesscommunication apparatus to reach the particular location is longer.Thus, the frequency of receiving the radio wave transmitted from thesurrounding base station may be reduced as the distance between thelocation of the wireless communication apparatus and the particularlocation evaluated by the distance evaluation portion is longer. Thisconfiguration further reduces the power consumption in the wirelesscommunication apparatus while maintaining the accuracy of determinationas to whether the wireless communication apparatus exists in theparticular location.

The wireless communication apparatus may further include a timeinformation input portion to input time information indicating a giventime, and the determination portion may determine whether the wirelesscommunication apparatus exists in the particular location at the timeindicated by the time information input to the time information inputportion. In this configuration, the notification processing portionperforms prescribed notification processing when the determinationportion determines that the wireless communication apparatus exists inthe particular location at the time indicated by the time informationthat is input to the time information input portion. The notificationprocessing portion can thereby perform prescribed notificationprocessing in more appropriate context in accordance with the locationof the wireless communication apparatus and the time.

The wireless communication apparatus may further include a notificationinformation input portion to input notification information to benotified to a user of the wireless communication apparatus, and thenotification processing portion may perform notification processing ofthe notification information input to the notification information inputportion when the determination portion determines that the wirelesscommunication apparatus exists in the particular location. In thisconfiguration, when the wireless communication apparatus exists in theparticular location, the notification processing portion can notify auser of the wireless communication apparatus not only that the wirelesscommunication apparatus exists in the particular location but also thenotification information which is input in advance. Consequently, whenthe user of the wireless communication apparatus reaches the particularlocation, the user can remember that he/she reaches the particularlocation and the item related to the particular location based on thenotification information.

The wireless communication apparatus may further include a locationinformation input portion to input location information indicating theparticular location, and an acquisition portion to acquire base stationinformation of a base station transmitting a radio wave having a wavereaching range including the particular location indicated by thelocation information input to the location information input portion,from the first memory. This configuration allows the wirelesscommunication apparatus to perform the process such as the input of aparticular location, the acquisition of the base station information ofthe base station which transmits the radio wave with its wave reachingrange including the particular location from the first memory, and theprescribed notification processing on its own.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a program for causing a computer to serve as a wirelesscommunication apparatus capable of receiving a radio wave containing abase station ID transmitted from a base station of wirelesscommunication. Specifically, the wireless communication apparatusincludes a base station information input portion to input base stationinformation of a base station transmitting a radio wave having a wavereaching range including a particular location, the base stationinformation acquired from a first memory storing a plurality of piecesof base station information containing a base station ID, a recordingportion to record the base station information input to the base stationinformation input portion into a second memory, a reception portion toreceive the radio wave transmitted from a surrounding base station, adetermination portion to determine whether the wireless communicationapparatus exists in the particular location based on the radio wavereceived by the reception portion and the base station informationstored in the second memory, and a notification processing portion toperform prescribed notification processing based on a determinationresult of the determination portion whether the wireless communicationapparatus exists in the particular location.

The above program can cause a hardware resource of a computer includingCPU, ROM, RAM or the like to execute the functions of each element ofthe recording portion, the determination portion and the notificationprocessing portion described above. It is therefore possible to cause acomputer that implements the program to serve as the above-describedwireless communication apparatus.

According to the embodiments of the present invention described above,it is possible to perform prescribed notification processing accordingto an existing location with a reduced amount of stored informationrelating to base stations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration showing the configuration of a locationnotification system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing the relationship of a portable devicewith surrounding base stations according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of aportable device according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a PCand a portable device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an illustration showing an example of a setting screen whichis displayed on a display portion.

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing an example of base station informationwhich is stored in a storage portion of a PC.

FIG. 7 is an illustration showing an example of base station informationwhich is acquired from a storage portion by an information acquisitionportion.

FIG. 8 is an illustration showing an example of the reception strengthof a signal received from surrounding base stations by a portabledevice.

FIG. 9 is an illustration showing an example of notification of areminder item which is notified by a notification portion.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a wireless communicationmethod which is executed in a PC and a portable device according to thefirst embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an illustration showing another example of the configurationof a wireless communication apparatus.

FIG. 12 is an illustration showing an example of the configuration of awireless communication system according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of acellular phone and a point distribution server according to the secondembodiment.

FIG. 14 is an illustration showing an example of the information whichis stored in a storage portion.

FIG. 15 is an illustration showing the flow of a point distributionmethod which is executed in a cellular phone and a point distributionserver according to the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that,in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elementsthat have substantially the same function and structure are denoted withthe same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of thesestructural elements is omitted.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in thefollowing order:

(1) Description of the outline of the location notification system

(2) Description of the first embodiment of the present invention

-   -   (2-1) Hardware configuration of the portable device according to        the first embodiment of the present invention    -   (2-2) Function of the PC and the portable device according to        the first embodiment of the present invention    -   (2-3) Wireless communication method according to the first        embodiment of the present invention    -   (2-4) Alternative embodiment of the first embodiment of the        present invention

(3) Description of the second embodiment of the present invention

-   -   (3-1) Function of the point distribution server and the cellular        phone according to the second embodiment of the present        invention    -   (3-2) Point distribution method according to the second        embodiment of the present invention

(4) Summary

(1) Description of the Outline of the Location Notification System

The outline of a location notification system 1 according to anembodiment of the present invention is described hereinafter withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is an illustration showing the configuration of the locationnotification system 1 according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is anillustration showing the relationship of a portable device withsurrounding base stations according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG.1, the location notification system 1 of this embodiment includes a PC(Personal Computer) 10 and a portable device 20. As shown in FIG. 2, theportable device 20 receives signals which are transmitted from thesurrounding base stations 30.

When the portable device 20 receives signals (radio waves) which aretransmitted from the surrounding base stations 30A, 30B, 30I and 30X asshown in FIG. 2, the portable device 20 can estimate the location of theportable device 20 if it has base station information which contains thelocation information of the surrounding base stations 30A, 30B, 30I and30X. Thus, the portable device 20 can estimate its own location in thevicinity of the location of the base station 30 corresponding to thebase station information which is stored therein. Therefore, if the basestation information of the base stations which are installed in allplaces are stored in the portable device 20, the portable device 20 canestimate its own location in every location.

Accordingly, if a user of the portable device 20 registers a reminderitem (notification information) such as “buy a notebook in a conveniencestore”, “stop by the gallery ABC on occasion to visit Kinza town nextweek”, or “check if there is the book DEF upon going to a bookstore” inthe portable device 20, the portable device 20 can estimate its ownlocation and notify the reminder item to the user in an appropriatelocation. For example, the portable device 20 can notify the reminderitem “buy a notebook” when the user is in “a convenience store”, notifythe reminder item “stop by the gallery ABC” when the user is in “Kinzatown”, or notify the reminder item “check if there is the book DEF” whenthe user is in “a bookstore”.

However, if the base station information of the base stations which areinstalled in all places is stored in the portable device 20, a largestorage capacity and a large-scale hardware are necessary for theportable device 20. Further, the portable device 20 does not necessarilystore the base station information of the base stations which areinstalled in all places in order to notify the reminder item to a userin an appropriate location as described above.

In view of the foregoing, the location notification system 1 of thisembodiment has been invented. In the location notification system 1according to the embodiment, the base station information of the basestations which are installed in a wide range of places is stored in thePC 10, and the necessary base station information which is selected fromthe base station information that is stored in the PC 10 is stored inthe portable device 20. This allows the portable device 20 to performthe processing for notifying a reminder item in an appropriate locationand also reduces the hardware scale of the portable device 20. Thedetailed configuration of the PC 10 and the portable device 20 whichconstitute the location notification system 1 is described hereinbelow.

Note that FIG. 1 shows the PC 10 as an information processing apparatusand shows the portable device 20 (watch) as a wireless communicationapparatus by way of illustration only, and the information processingapparatus and the wireless communication apparatus are not limited tothose examples. For example, the information processing apparatus andthe wireless communication apparatus may be other information processingapparatus such as a home video processing unit (e.g. a DVD recorder, avideocassette recorder etc.), a PHS (Personal Handyphone System), aportable sound playback unit, a portable video processing unit, a PDA(Personal Digital Assistant), a home game device, and an electricalhousehold appliance.

(2) Description of the First Embodiment of the Present Invention

A first embodiment of the present invention is described hereinafter.Specifically, the configuration, the operation and so on of the PC 10and the portable device 20 according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention are described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 11.

(2-1) Hardware Configuration of the Portable Device According to theFirst Embodiment of the Present Invention

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of theportable device 20. The portable device 20 includes a CPU (CentralProcessing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random AccessMemory) 203, a host bus 204, a bridge 205, an external bus 206, aninterface 207, an input unit 208, an output unit 210, a storage unit(HDD) 211, a drive 212, and a communication unit 215.

The CPU 201 serves as a processing unit and a control unit, and itcontrols the overall operation in the portable device 20 according toeach program. The CPU 201 may be a microprocessor. The ROM 202 stores aprogram to be used by the CPU 201, a processing parameter and so on. TheRAM 203 temporarily stores a program to be used in the execution on theCPU 201, a parameter that varies in the execution and so on. The CPU201, the ROM 202 and the RAM 203 are connected through the host bus 204,which may be a CPU bus or the like.

The host bus 204 is connected to the external bus 206 such as a PCI(Peripheral Component Interconnect/Interface) bus via the bridge 205.The host bus 204, the bridge 205 and the external bus 206 are notnecessarily separated from each other, and their functions may beimplemented by one bus.

The input unit 208 may include an input means for a user to inputinformation, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, a button, amicrophone, a switch or a lever, and an input control circuit togenerate an input signal based on a user input and output it to the CPU201, for example. A user of the portable device 20 manipulates the inputunit 208 to thereby input various data or instruct processing operationto the portable device 20.

The output unit 210 may include a display device such as a CRT (CathodeRay Tube) display device, an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Display)device, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) device or a lamp, and a soundoutput device such as a speaker or a headphone, for example. The outputunit 210 may output a reminder item, for example. Specifically, thedisplay device displays an reminder item by a text or an image. Thesound output device converts a reminder item into a sound and outputsit.

The storage unit 211 is a device for data storage that is configured asan example of a storage portion of the portable device 20 according tothis embodiment. The storage unit 211 may include a storage medium, arecording device to record data into the storage medium, a readingdevice to read data from the storage medium, a deleting device to deletedata recorded in the storage medium and so on. The storage unit 211 maybe an HDD (Hard Disc Drive). The storage unit 211 drives a hard disk andstores a program to be executed by the CPU 201 or various data. Thestorage unit 211 also stores base station information, a reminder itemand so on as described later.

The drive 212 is a reader/writer for a storage medium, and it may bebuilt in the portable device 20 or attached externally. The drive 212reads information that is recorded on a removable storage medium 24 suchas a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk or asemiconductor memory which is attached thereto and outputs theinformation to the RAM 203.

The communication unit 215 may be a communication interface thatincludes a communication device or the like to establish connection withthe communication network 12. The communication unit 215 may be acommunication device compatible with a wireless LAN (Local AreaNetwork), a communication device compatible with a wireless USB, or awire communication device that performs wired communication. Thecommunication unit 215 may receive a signal which is transmitted fromthe surrounding base station 30 or transmit/receive data such as basestation information and a reminder item to/from the PC 10.

The hardware configuration of the portable device 20 is described in theforegoing with reference to FIG. 3. The hardware configuration of the PC10 may be substantially the same as the hardware configuration of theportable device 20 and thus not described herein.

(2-2) Function of the PC and the Portable Device According to the FirstEmbodiment of the Present Invention

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the PC10 and the portable device 20 according to the embodiment. As shown inFIG. 4, the PC 10 includes a communication portion 116, a display screengeneration portion 120, a display portion 124, an information inputportion 128, a storage portion 132 and an information acquisitionportion 136. The portable device 20 includes a communication portion216, a recording portion 220, a storage portion 232, a locationestimation portion 236, a determination portion 240, a notificationportion 244, a distance evaluation portion 248 and a receptioninstruction portion 252.

The communication portion 116 of the PC 10 is an interface with theportable device 20, and it serves as a transmission portion, a receptionportion, an output portion, an input portion and so on which communicateinformation with the portable device 20. The information which iscommunicated with the portable device 20 is base station information, anotification condition, a reminder item and so on, for example.

The display screen generation portion 120 generates a setting screen 31which is used to set a reminder item and a notification condition fornotifying the reminder item. The display portion 124 displays thesetting screen 31 which is generated by the display screen generationportion 120. The information input portion 128 is an interface throughwhich a user of the portable device 20 inputs and sets a reminder itemand a notification condition on the setting screen 31 which is displayedon the display portion 124, and it serves as a location informationinput portion. FIG. 5 shows an example of the setting screen 31 forsetting a reminder item and a notification condition.

FIG. 5 is an illustration showing an example of the setting screen 31which is displayed on the display portion 124. As shown in FIG. 5, thesetting screen 31 includes a time setting window 32, a location settingwindow 34, a map window 36 and a reminder item window 39.

The time setting window 32 is a window for setting the time when areminder item is notified to a user in the portable device 20. In theexample shown in FIG. 5, the time setting window 32 includes a displayfor setting a day such as “daily”, “weekdays”, “weekends”, and“tomorrow” and a display for setting a time period such as “anytime” and“from 10:00 to 12:00”. Because “tomorrow” and “from 10:00 to 12:00” areselected in the example of FIG. 5, such time conditions are set as timeinformation, so that a reminder item is notified in the portable device20 in the period “from 10:00 to 12:00” “tomorrow” if other prescribedconditions are satisfied.

Although FIG. 5 shows the case where the time setting window 32 includesthe display for setting a day and the display for setting a time period,the time setting window 32 is not limited thereto. For example, the timesetting window 32 may include a display for setting time such as minute,week, month, year and season or a display for setting a period on thebasis of the current time.

The location setting window 34 is a window for setting the locationwhere a reminder item is notified to a user in the portable device 20.In the example shown in FIG. 5, the location setting window 34 includesa display for not particularly specifying the location such as“anywhere” and a display for setting the location within a certain rangesuch as “100 m in radius from a designated location”. The map window 36displays the range of “100 m in radius from a designated location” on amap, and it indicates the designated location with a star 37 andindicates the range of 100 m from the star 37 with a dotted line 38.Because the location condition of within the range of “100 m in radiusfrom a designated location” is selected in the example of FIG. 5, such alocation condition is set as location information, so that a reminderitem is notified in the portable device 20 when the portable device 20is located within the range of the dotted line 38 (a particularlocation) from the star 37 and if other prescribed conditions aresatisfied.

To specify the position of the star 37, a user may click a desiredposition on the map window 36 by manipulating the information inputportion 128, a user may input the latitude and the longitude bymanipulating the information input portion 128, or a user may input anaddress by manipulating the information input portion 128 and the PC 10may convert the address into the latitude and longitude. Further, when auser inputs “convenience store” or “bookstore”, the location informationof the “convenience store” or “bookstore” may be extracted from thelocation information which is previously registered in association witheach facility, so that the location which is indicated by the extractedlocation information may be specified.

The reminder item window 39 is a window for setting a reminder item tobe notified to a user in the portable device 20 when the notificationconditions which are set regarding the time information, the locationinformation and so on are satisfied. A user may input and set a desiredreminder item by manipulating the information input portion 128, forexample. FIG. 5 shows the reminder item window 39 in which the reminderitem “buy a notebook” is input.

As described above, if the contents of the setting screen 31 shown inFIG. 5 are set, the portable device 20 notifies a user to “buy anotebook” when it exists in the range of “100 m (the dotted line 38) inradius from a designated location (the star 37)” in the period “from10:00 to 12:00” “tomorrow”.

Back to the description of the configuration of the PC 10 shown in FIG.4, the storage portion 132 serves as a first memory which stores basestation information that associates a base station ID to identify thebase station 30 and 30 the location information of the base station 30.An example of the base station information which is stored in thestorage portion 132 is described hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing an example of the base stationinformation which is stored in the storage portion 132 of the PC 10. Asshown in FIG. 6, the storage portion 132 of the PC 10 stores the basestation information of the base stations which are installed in givenplaces. In the followings, the symbol that denotes each base station isthe base station ID of each base station for convenience of description.

In the example of FIG. 6, the storage portion 132 stores informationthat the base station 30A′ with a base station ID “30A” is installed at“135.001” east longitude and “35.49” north latitude.

Likewise, the storage portion 132 stores the base station informationwhich associates the base station ID of each base station, such as abase station 30B, a base station 30C, a base station 30D, . . . , a basestation 30H, a base station 30I, . . . , a base station 30X, a basestation 30Y, . . . , with the location information such as the longitudeand latitude.

The format of the location information which is stored in the storageportion 132 is not limited to the one using the longitude and latitude.For example, the format may be the one using x and y coordinates, theone using a polar coordinate, or the one using a vector.

The storage portion 132 may be nonvolatile memory such as EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) and EPROM(Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), magnetic disks such as harddisk and discoid magnetic disk, optical disks such as CD-R (Compact DiscRecordable)/RW (ReWritable), DVD-R (Digital Versatile DiskRecordable)/RW/+R/+RW/RAM (Random Access Memory) and BD (Blu-ray Disc(registered trademark))-R/BD-RE, or a storage medium such as MO (MagnetoOptical) disk.

The information acquisition portion 136 acquires the base stationinformation of the base station 30 which transmits the signal whoseradio wave reaching range includes a particular location that is set asthe notification location of a reminder item which is input through theinformation input portion 128 from the base station information which isstored in the storage portion 132. For example, the informationacquisition portion 136 may calculate a distance between each basestation 30 and a particular location based on the base stationinformation which is stored in the storage portion 132 and acquire thebase station information of the base station 30 of which calculateddistance is within a radio wave reaching range. The informationacquisition portion 136 acquires the base station information shown inFIG. 7, for example, from the storage portion 132. The radio wavereaching range may be a range in which the portable device 20 canreceive a radio wave.

FIG. 7 is an illustration showing an example of the base stationinformation which is acquired from the storage portion 132 by theinformation acquisition portion 136. The information acquisition portion136 acquires the base station information of the base station whichincludes a particular location (e.g. longitude 135.002 and latitude35.46) that is input through the information input portion 128 as shownin FIG. 7 in its radio wave reaching range.

In the example of FIG. 7, the base station information which is acquiredfrom the storage portion 132 by the information acquisition portion 136contains the base station information of the base station 30A, the basestation information of the base station 30B, the base stationinformation of the base station 30I and the base station information ofthe base station 30X. The base station information which is acquiredfrom the storage portion 132 by the information acquisition portion 136is transmitted or output to the portable device 20 through thecommunication portion 116. The communication portion 116 also transmitsto the portable device 20 the notification conditions such as locationinformation and time information and the reminder item which are inputthrough the information input portion 128.

The communication portion 216 of the portable device 20 is an interfacewith the PC 10 and it serves as a base station information inputportion, a location information input portion, a time information inputportion and a notification information input portion which communicatebase station information, notification conditions such as locationinformation and time information, a reminder item and so on with the PC10. The communication portion 216 also serves as a reception portionwhich receives a signal which is transmitted from the base station 30.

The base station 30 may be a base station of a wireless LAN (Local AreaNetwork) using WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) based on IEEE802.11 series (e.g.802.11b, 802.11g etc.).

If the base station 30 is a WiFi base station (access point), forexample, the base station 30 may periodically transmit a beaconingsignal for informing the surroundings of the existence of the basestation 30 in addition to a signal that is transmitted through thewireless communication. The beaconing signal may contain a base stationID as unique base station identification information that is assigned toeach base station 30. The portable device 20 can be thereby informed ofthe existence of the base station 30 that exists in the surrounding areabased on the base station ID of the beaconing signal which is receivedthrough the communication portion 216.

The recording portion 220 records the base station information, thenotification condition, the reminder item and so on which are input fromthe PC 10 through the communication portion 216 into the storage portion232. The storage portion 232 serves as a second memory to hold and storethe base station information, the notification condition, the reminderitem and so on which are recorded by the recording portion 220. Becausethe base station information which is recorded in the storage portion232 is selectively acquired by the information acquisition portion 136from the base station information which is stored in the storage portion132 of the PC 10, the data amount of the base station information whichis recorded in the storage portion 232 is smaller than the data amountof the base station information which is stored in the storage portion132 of the PC 10.

Like the storage portion 132 of the PC 10, the storage portion 232 ofthe portable device 20 may be nonvolatile memory such as EEPROM andEPROM, magnetic disks such as hard disk and discoid magnetic disk,optical disks such as CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW/+R/+RW/RAM and BD (Blu-ray Disc(registered trademark))-R/BD-RE, or a storage medium such as MO disk.

The location estimation portion 236 estimates the existing location ofthe portable device 20 according to the following expression 1, forexample, based on the reception strength of the signal which istransmitted from the surrounding base stations and the base stationinformation which is stored in the storage portion 232.

$\begin{matrix}{O = {\frac{1}{W} \cdot {\sum\limits_{i}\; \left( {{Wi} \cdot {Ai}} \right)}}} & {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 1} \\{{Wi} = \frac{1}{{distS}\left( {O,{Ai}} \right)}} & {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 2} \\{W = {\sum\limits_{i}{Wi}}} & {{Expression}\mspace{14mu} 3}\end{matrix}$

In the expression 1, Ai indicates the location information of the i-thbase station 30 which is recorded in the storage portion 232. Thus, ifthe base station information is expressed by the longitude and latitudeas shown in FIG. 6, the expression 1 is applied for each of thelongitude and latitude. Wi indicates a weighting factor which isobtained based on distS (O, Ai) indicating a distance between theportable device 20 and the i-th base station 30 that is estimated fromthe signal strength. W is the sum total of weighting factors as shown inthe expression 3.

Referring to the expression 1, the location information of the basestation 30 in which the value of distS (O, Ai) is small is largelyreflected in the estimated location O of the portable device 20 at eachmeasurement time. On the other hand, the location information of thebase station 30 in which the value of distS (O, Ai) does not largelyaffect the estimated location O of the portable device 20.

With the above expression 1, the location estimation portion 236 canrationally estimate the location information of the portable device 20.The location estimation portion 236 can further acquire an address suchas “5, C-city, AB-prefecture” based on the estimated locationinformation.

A method of estimating the location of the portable device 20 is notlimited to the one using the above expression 1. For example, thelocation of the base station 30 which transmits the signal whosereception strength in the portable device 20 is highest may be estimatedas the location of the portable device 20. Alternatively, the locationthat is at the center of the base stations which transmit the signalwhose reception strength in the portable device 20 is a predeterminedthreshold or higher may be estimated as the location of the portabledevice 20. Further, the location that is at the center of the basestations which transmit the signal whose reception strength in theportable device 20 is ranked in the top certain percents, such as thetop 10%, 20% etc., may be estimated as the location of the portabledevice 20. Furthermore, the location that is at the center of the basestations which transmit the signal whose reception strength in theportable device 20 is ranked in certain places, such as the top 5thplace, 10th place etc., may be estimated as the location of the portabledevice 20.

FIG. 8 is an illustration showing an example of the reception strengthof the signals which are received from the surrounding base stations 30by the portable device 20. FIG. 8 shows the case where the portabledevice 20 receives the signals which are transmitted from the basestation 30B, the base station 30F, . . . , the base station 30I, thebase station 30J, . . . , and the base station 30X. In this case, thelocation estimation portion 236 can estimate the location of theportable device 20 based on the base station information of the basestation 30B, the base station information of the base station 30I andthe base station information of the base station 30X which is stored inthe storage portion 232.

The determination portion 240 determines whether the portable device 20exists in the particular location which is specified by the notificationcondition based on a result of estimating the location of the portabledevice 20 by the location estimation portion 236. For example, when thelocation estimation portion 236 estimates location information, thedetermination portion 240 determines whether the estimated locationinformation corresponds to a particular location.

In order for the location estimation portion 236 to estimate thelocation of the portable device 20 by the location estimation method asdescribed above, it is necessary that the storage portion 232 stores thebase station information of the base station from which the signalreceived by the portable device 20 is transmitted. Specifically, if thebase station from which the signal received by the portable device 20 istransmitted does not correspond to any of the base stations whose basestation information is stored in the storage portion 232, the portabledevice 20 fails to estimate its own location. Thus, when the locationestimation portion 236 fails to estimate the location of the portabledevice 20, it means that the portable device 20 does not exist in aparticular specified location. Accordingly, if the location of theportable device 20 is not estimated by the location estimation portion236, the determination portion 240 determines that the portable device20 does not exist in a particular location.

The determination portion 240 may determine whether the portable device20 exists in a particular location without using a result of estimatingthe location of the portable device 20 by the location estimationportion 236. For example, the determination portion 240 may determinethat the portable device 20 exists in a particular location when thebase station which corresponds to the base station information stored inthe storage portion 232 is included in the base station from which thesignal received by the portable device 20 is transmitted, and determinethat the portable device 20 does not exist in a particular location whenthe base station which corresponds to the base station informationstored in the storage portion 232 is not included in the base stationfrom which the signal received by the portable device 20 is transmitted.The determination portion 240 further determines whether othernotification conditions such as time information are satisfied inaddition to the location of the portable device 20.

The notification portion 244 serves as a notification processing portionwhich notifies a reminder item which is stored in the storage portion232 to a user according to a determination result by the determinationportion 240. For example, the notification portion 244 can notify thereminder item shown in FIG. 9 to a user when the portable device 20exists in a particular location and a time condition is satisfied.

FIG. 9 is an illustration showing an example of the notification of thereminder item which is notified by the notification portion 244. Asshown in FIG. 9, the notification portion 244 can notify the reminderitem to a user by displaying the text “You are arrived at the designatedlocation. Please remember to buy a notebook”. A method of notifying areminder item is not limited to display, and it may be notified bysound.

Further, the notification portion 244 may notify a reminder item whenthe portable device 20 does not exist in a particular location. Forexample, if a home is set as a particular location, the notificationportion 244 can notify the reminder item “Do not forget to bring thepassport” when the portable device 20 is moved away from the home.

The reception instruction portion 252 instructs the communicationportion 216 to receive the signal which is transmitted from thesurrounding base station 30. For example, the reception instructionportion 252 may instruct the communication portion 216 to receive thesignal at predetermined intervals. This setting eliminates the necessityfor the communication portion 216 to operate at all times, therebyreducing the power consumption in the portable device 20.

Generally, as a distance between the location of the portable device 20and a particular location is larger, a time that is necessary for theportable device 20 to reach the particular location is longer. Thus, thefrequency that the reception instruction portion 252 instructs thecommunication portion 216 to receive the signal may be variable inaccordance with a distance between the location of the portable device20 and a particular location.

A distance between the location of the portable device 20 and aparticular location may be evaluated by the distance evaluation portion248 based on the estimation result of the location of the portabledevice 20 which is estimated by the location estimation portion 236 andthe location information of the particular location which is included inthe notification condition that is stored in the storage portion 232.

This configuration further reduces the power consumption in the portabledevice 20 while maintaining the accuracy of determination as to whetherthe portable device 20 exists in a particular location.

The configuration of the PC 10 and the portable device 20 according tothe first embodiment is described in the foregoing. A wirelesscommunication method which is performed in the PC 10 and the portabledevice 20 according to the embodiment is described hereinafter.

(2-3) Wireless Communication Method According to the First Embodiment ofthe Present Invention

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the wireless communicationmethod which is performed in the PC 10 and the portable device 20according to the embodiment. First, in the PC 10, a user inputs areminder item and a notification condition of the reminder item throughthe information input portion 128 (S304).

Next, the information acquisition portion 136 extracts and acquires thebase station information of the base station 30 which transmits thesignal whose radio wave reaching range includes a particular locationindicated by the location information that is included in the inputnotification condition from a plurality of pieces of base stationinformation which are stored in the storage portion 132 (S308). Then,the communication portion 116 transmits the reminder item and thenotification condition which are input through the information inputportion 128 and the base station information which is acquired by theinformation acquisition portion 136 to the portable device 20 (S312).

The recording portion 220 of the portable device 20 records the reminderitem, the notification condition and the base station information whichare received from the PC 10 into the storage portion 232 (S316). Then,when the communication portion 216 receives the signal which istransmitted from the surrounding base station 30 (S320), the locationestimation portion 236 estimates the location of the portable device 20based on the signal which is received by the communication portion 216(S324).

After that, the determination portion 240 determines whether thelocation of the portable device 20 which is estimated by the locationestimation portion 236, the current time or the like satisfies thenotification condition which is stored in the storage portion 232 (e.g.whether the portable device 20 exists in a particular location) (S328).If the determination portion 240 determines that it does not satisfy thenotification condition which is stored in the storage portion 232, thereception instruction portion 252 outputs a reception instruction to thecommunication portion 216 after a prescribed period of time (S332).

On the other hand, if the determination portion 240 determines in thestep S328 that it satisfies the notification condition which is storedin the storage portion 232, the notification portion 244 notifies thereminder item which is stored in the storage portion 232 in associationwith the notification condition to a user (S336).

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention, the base station information which is necessary fordetermining whether the portable device 20 exists in a particularlocation is selectively recorded in the storage portion 232 of theportable device 20. The data amount of the base station informationwhich is stored in the storage portion 232 of the portable device 20 isthereby reduced, so that the portable device 20 can perform the reminderitem notification processing according to the existing location of theportable device 20 with a small hardware scale.

(2-4) Alternative Embodiment of the First Embodiment of the PresentInvention

An alternative embodiment of the first embodiment of the presentinvention is described hereinbelow. In the first embodiment describedabove, as prescribed notification processing, a prestored reminder itemis notified when a watch, which is shown as an example of a wirelesscommunication apparatus, exists in a particular location. However, thenotification processing is not limited thereto, and it may notify a userthat the wireless communication apparatus exists in a particularlocation by simply emitting light, vibrating, sounding a siren and soon.

FIG. 11 is an illustration showing other examples of the configurationof the wireless communication apparatus. As described above, thewireless communication apparatus does not necessarily include a display,and it may have a simple hardware configuration as shown in FIG. 11. Forexample, the wireless communication apparatus may be a star-shaped pinas shown in FIG. 11A, a heart-shaped brooch as shown in FIG. 11B, a Gclef-shaped pin as shown in FIG. 11C, or a soccer ball-shaped pin asshown in FIG. 11D.

Further, although the case where the base station information isinformation which associates a base station ID with location informationof the base station 30 is described above, the base station informationis not limited to thereto. For example, the base station information maybe information which associates a base station ID with a receptionstrength to indicate radio conditions. This is described in detailhereinbelow.

The signal strength pattern (radio condition) of the signal which isreceived at a certain location by the portable device 20 from aplurality of base stations is a radio condition that is unique to thelocation, and there is only a small possibility that the same radiocondition is obtained in another location. Thus, if the radio conditionof the portable device 20 is acquired, it is possible to estimate thelocation of the portable device 20 substantially uniquely. Thealternative embodiment is proposed in light of the fact that a uniqueradio condition is obtained in a certain location.

In the alternative embodiment, the storage portion 232 stores thereception strength (radio condition) for each base station 30. Thereception strength for each base station 30 may be estimated by theinformation acquisition portion 136 in the PC 10, which estimates thereception strength for each base station 30 that is received by aparticular location which is input through the information input portion128.

The location estimation portion 236 of the portable device 20 measuresthe reception strength of the signal which is transmitted from thesurrounding base station 30 for each base station 30. The locationestimation portion 236 then acquires the radio condition of the portabledevice 20 which contains the combination of the base station ID and thereception strength.

The determination portion 240 determines whether the radio condition ofthe portable device 20 which is acquired by the location estimationportion 236 and the radio condition which is stored in the storageportion 232 match with or are similar to each other.

Examples of the technique of determining the similarity between a radiocondition A and a radio condition B is described below.

(1) If there is a predetermined number or more of matches between thebase station ID which is contained in the radio condition A and the basestation ID which is contained in the radio condition B, it is determinedthat the radio condition A and the radio condition B match or aresimilar, and if there is not a predetermined number or more of matchesbetween the base station ID which is contained in the radio condition Aand the base station ID which is contained in the radio condition B, itis determined that the radio condition A and the radio condition B donot match or are not similar.

(2) If there is a predetermined number or more of matches between thebase station ID with a predetermined level or higher reception strengthwhich is contained in the radio condition A and the base station ID witha predetermined level or higher reception strength which is contained inthe radio condition B, it is determined that the radio condition A andthe radio condition B match or are similar, and if there is not apredetermined number or more of matches between the base station ID witha predetermined level or higher reception strength which is contained inthe radio condition A and the base station ID with a predetermined levelor higher reception strength which is contained in the radio conditionB, it is determined that the radio condition A and the radio condition Bdo not match or are not similar.

(3) A coefficient of correlation in the sets of the base station ID andthe reception strength between the radio condition A and the radiocondition B is calculated, and if the coefficient of correlation is aset value or higher, it is determined that the radio condition A and theradio condition B match or are similar, and if the coefficient ofcorrelation is a set value or lower, it is determined that the radiocondition A and the radio condition B do not match or are not similar.

(4) The determination on the similarity between the radio condition Aand the radio condition B can be performed using other arbitrarytechniques and standards.

If the determination portion 240 determines that the radio condition ofthe portable device 20 which is acquired by the location estimationportion 236 and the radio condition which is stored in the storageportion 232 match or are similar, the notification portion 244 notifiesthe reminder item which is stored in association with the radiocondition in the storage portion 232.

This configuration eliminates the process of estimating the location ofthe portable device 20 based on the reception strength of the signalwhich is received from the surrounding base station 30 by each portabledevice 20. It is thereby possible to reduce the capacity that isnecessary for the portable device 20.

The location of the portable device 20 may be estimated using GPS or asignal which is transmitted from a base station of a cellular phone.However, when using GPS, it is necessary to run a GPS receiving functionat all times, which causes high power consumption. On the other hand,when using the WiFi wave, it is only necessary to activate a signalreceiving function according to need, thus enabling lower powerconsumption. Further, in the technique of using a base station of acellular phone, the accuracy of the location estimation is low with thecurrent state of the art.

Alternatively, when a user bookmarks a certain Web page through theinformation input portion 128, the information acquisition portion 136may convert the address which is contained in the Web page into thelatitude and longitude information and acquire the base stationinformation of the base station 30 which transmits the signal thatincludes the location designated by the latitude and longitudeinformation within its radio wave reaching range from the storageportion 132, and the communication portion 116 may transmit the acquiredbase station information to the portable device 20. Consequently, thebase station information which enables the estimation of the locationthat is designated by the address contained in the certain Web page isstored in the storage portion 232 of the portable device 20, so thatprescribed notification processing is performed when the portable device20 reaches the location that is designated by the address contained inthe Web page.

(3) Description of the Second Embodiment of the Present Invention

A second embodiment of the present invention is described hereinafter. A“stamp rally” of train, which gives an award to a person who has put astamp that is placed in each station of a line on a given stamp book atall predetermined stations, is widely spread. In such stamp rally, thestamp which is put on the stamp book has a location verificationfunction that indicates that a user has visited the station where thestamp is placed.

The above location verification function can be achieved with the use ofthe wireless communication apparatus. For example, there may be a methodthat the wireless communication apparatus estimates its own locationbased on the signal that is transmitted from the surrounding basestation, transmits the estimated location to a predetermined pointdistribution server and receives an award according to the location fromthe point distribution server. However, in order for the wirelesscommunication apparatus to estimate its own location, it is necessary tostore the location information of the surrounding base stations and toperform the process of calculating its own location based on the signalwhich is transmitted from the surrounding base station and the locationinformation of the base station which is stored therein. This causes anincrease in the storage capacity and the processing capacity that arenecessary for the wireless communication apparatus.

In view of the foregoing, the second embodiment of the present inventionhas been invented. According to the second embodiment of the presentinvention, it is possible to give an award to a wireless communicationapparatus (or a user) according to the current or past location of thewireless communication apparatus without storing base stationinformation in the wireless communication apparatus.

For example, a wireless communication system 2 according to the secondembodiment of the present invention includes a point distribution serverand a wireless communication apparatus which is capable of communicationwith the point distribution server. The wireless communication apparatusincludes a reception portion which receives a signal that is transmittedfrom the surrounding base station, a radio condition acquisition portionwhich acquires a radio condition that is a reception strength of thesignal received by the reception portion for each base station, and atransmission portion which transmits the radio condition that isacquired by the radio condition acquisition portion to the pointdistribution server. The point distribution server includes a storageportion which previously stores a radio condition and prescribed awardinformation in association with each other, a radio conditiondetermination portion which determines if the radio condition that isreceived from the wireless communication apparatus and the radiocondition that is stored in the storage portion match or are similar,and an award distribution portion which distributes the awardinformation that is stored in the storage portion in association withthe radio condition which is determined to match or be similar to theradio condition that is received from the wireless communicationapparatus by the radio condition determination portion to the wirelesscommunication apparatus. A specific example of the wirelesscommunication system 2 according to the embodiment is describedhereinafter. The elements of the wireless communication system 2 of theembodiment are similar to those described in the first embodiment inmany ways, and a difference is mainly described hereinbelow.

FIG. 12 is an illustration showing an example of the configuration ofthe wireless communication system 2 according to the second embodimentof the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, the wirelesscommunication apparatus 2 of the embodiment includes a cellular phone 40as an example of the wireless communication apparatus, and a pointdistribution server 50 which is connected with the cellular phone 40through a communication network 12.

Although FIG. 12 shows the cellular phone 40 as an example of thewireless communication apparatus, the wireless communication apparatusis not limited thereto as long as it has a wireless communicationfunction. For example, the wireless communication apparatus may be otherinformation processing units such as a PC, a PHS, a portable soundplayback unit, a portable video processing unit, a PDA, a portable gamedevice, and an electrical household appliance.

The communication network 12 may include a wire cable such as a copperwire or a fiber-optic cable, a data transmission line such as a radiowave, or a data relay station such as a router or a base station tocontrol communication. The specific function of the cellular phone 40and the point distribution server 50 is described hereinafter withreference to FIGS. 13 and 14.

(3-1) Function of the Point Distribution Server and the Cellular PhoneAccording to the Second Embodiment of the Present Invention

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of thecellular phone 40 and the point distribution server 50 according to thesecond embodiment. The cellular phone 40 includes a communicationportion 416, a radio condition acquisition portion 420, a storageportion 432 and a point request portion 436. The point distributionserver 50 includes a communication portion 516, a radio conditiondetermination portion 520, a storage portion 532 and a pointdistribution portion 536.

The communication portion 416 of the cellular phone 40 serves as atransmission portion and a reception portion which communicate a radiocondition and a point (award) with the point distribution server 50. Thecommunication portion 416 can also receive a signal which is transmittedfrom the surrounding base station 30.

The radio condition acquisition portion 420 measures the strength of thesignal which is received from the surrounding base station by thecommunication portion 416 and acquires a radio condition. For example,the radio condition acquisition portion 420 acquires the radio conditionas shown in FIG. 8, for example. The radio condition acquisition portion420 then records the acquired radio condition into the storage portion432. The storage portion 432 stores and holds the radio condition whichis acquired by the radio condition acquisition portion 420.

The point request portion 436 transmits the radio condition which isstored in the storage portion 432 as a point distribution request to thepoint distribution server 50 according to user operation, for example.The point request portion 436 may transmit the radio condition which isacquired by the radio condition acquisition portion 420, rather than theradio condition which is once stored in the storage portion 432, to thepoint distribution server 50.

The communication portion 516 of the point distribution server 50 is aninterface which communicates a radio condition and a point with thecellular phone 40. The radio condition determination portion 520determines whether a reference radio condition which matches or issimilar to the radio condition that is received from the cellular phone40 by the communication portion 516 is stored in the storage portion532. The storage portion 532 stores a reference radio condition andpoint information in association with each other. An example of theinformation which is stored in the storage portion 532 is describedhereinafter with reference to FIG. 14.

The determination on the matching or similarity of a plurality of radioconditions may be performed based on whether their base station IDsmatch or are similar as described above. Thus, the radio condition maybe information which simply contains a base station ID.

FIG. 14 is an illustration showing an example of the information whichis stored in storage portion 532. The storage portion 532 stores areference radio condition and point information in association with eachother. Specifically, the point information “Star books 5P” is associatedwith the reference radio condition in which the signal transmitted fromthe base station 30A with the base station ID “30A” has the receptionstrength “−90 Dbm”, the signal transmitted from the base station 30Bwith the base station ID “30B” has the reception strength “−70 Dbm”, thesignal transmitted from the base station 30C with the base station ID“30C” has the reception strength “−80 Dbm”, and the signal transmittedfrom the base station 30D with the base station ID “30D” has thereception strength “−75 Dbm”. Likewise, the location names “First grill4P” and “Seven-ten 2P” are respectively associated with the radioconditions which contain a combination of a plurality of base stationIDs and reception strengths.

The point distribution portion 536 distributes a point to the cellularphone 40 based on the point information which is associated with thereference radio condition that is determined by the radio conditiondetermination portion 520 to match or be similar to the radio conditionreceived from the cellular phone 40. For example, if the radio conditiondetermination portion 520 determines that the radio condition receivedfrom the cellular phone 40 matches or is similar to the reference radiocondition of the Star books, the point distribution portion 536distributes 5 points to the cellular phone 40. The point may be storedin the point distribution server 50 for each cellular phone 40. Thepoint which is distributed to the cellular phone 40 may be used for adiscount in a prescribed store.

(3-2) Point Distribution Method According to the Second Embodiment ofthe Present Invention

The flow of the point distribution method which is performed in thecellular phone 40 and the point distribution server 50 according to theembodiment is described hereinafter.

FIG. 15 is an illustration showing the point distribution method whichis performed in the cellular phone 40 and the point distribution server50 according to the embodiment. First, the cellular phone 40 receives asignal (radio wave) which is transmitted from the surrounding basestation 30 (S600). Then, the cellular phone 40 stores the radiocondition which is acquired based on the received signal into thestorage portion 432 (S610).

After that, the cellular phone 40 transmits the radio condition which isstored in the storage portion 432 to the point distribution server 50 asa point distribution request (S620). The radio condition determinationportion 520 of the point distribution server 50 determines whether theradio condition which is received from the cellular phone 40 matches oris similar to the reference radio condition which is prestored in thestorage portion 532 (S630). Then, the point distribution server 50distributes a point to the cellular phone 40 based on the pointinformation which is stored in the storage portion 532 in associationwith the reference radio condition that is determined to match or besimilar to the radio condition received from the cellular phone 40(S640).

The cellular phone 40 stores the point which is distributed from thepoint distribution server 50 to the storage portion 432 (S650), and auser of the cellular phone 40 can use the point which is stored in thestorage portion 432 when desired (S660).

(4) Summary

As described in the foregoing, according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention, the information acquisition portion 136 acquires thebase station information of the base station 30 which transmits theradio wave that reaches a particular location indicated by the positioninformation that is input to the information input portion 128. The basestation information may contain a base station ID, location informationindicating the location of the base station 30 and so on. Further, theinformation acquisition portion 136 acquires the base stationinformation of the base station 30 which transmits the radio wave thatreaches a particular location from the storage portion 132 which storesa plurality of pieces of base station information. Then, thecommunication portion 116 outputs the base station information which isacquired by the information acquisition portion 136 to the portabledevice 20. The base station information of the base station 30 whichtransmits the radio wave whose reaching range includes a particularlocation is input to the communication portion 216 of the portabledevice 20, and the recording portion 220 records the base stationinformation into the storage portion 232.

Further, the determination portion 240 determines whether the portabledevice 20 exists in a particular location based on the radio wave whichis transmitted from the surrounding base station 30 and the base stationinformation which is stored in the storage portion 232. For example, thedetermination portion 240 estimates the location of the portable device20 based on the radio wave which is transmitted from the surroundingbase station 30 and the base station information which contains thelocation information of each base station 30 which is stored in thestorage portion 232, and determines whether the estimated location is aparticular location. Then, the notification portion 244 performsprescribed notification processing based on the determination resultwhether the portable device 20 exists in a particular location by thedetermination portion 240. For example, when the determination portion240 determines that the portable device 20 exists in a particularlocation, the notification portion 244 notifies a user of the portabledevice 20 that the portable device 20 exists in a particular location.

The base station information which is input to the communication portion216 is selectively acquired by the information acquisition portion 136from the storage portion 132 of the PC 10 which stores a plurality ofpieces of base station information. Thus, the base station informationwhich is necessary to determine whether the portable device 20 exists ina particular location is selectively recorded in the storage portion 232of the portable device 20. The data amount of the base stationinformation which is stored in the storage portion 232 of the portabledevice 20 is thereby reduced, so that the portable device 20 can performprescribed notification processing according to the existing location ofthe portable device 20 with a small hardware scale.

Further, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, anaward is given to the cellular phone 40 (or a user) according to thecurrent or past location of the cellular phone 40 without storing basestation information in the cellular phone 40. This reduces a hardwarescale such as a memory that is necessary for the cellular phone 40.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

For example, although the PC 10 and the portable device 20 are separatedin the first embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto.For example, the functions of the PC 10 and the portable device 20 maybe implemented in one hardware. In this case, a function whichcorresponds to the storage portion 132 may be placed outside thehardware, so that a function which corresponds to the informationacquisition portion 136 acquires necessary base station information fromthe function which corresponds to storage portion 132 placed outside.

Further, it is not necessary to perform each step in the process of thePC 10, the portable device 20, the cellular phone 40 and the pointdistribution server 50 in chronological order according to the sequenceshown in the sequence chart, and the processing which is performed inparallel or individually (e.g. parallel processing or object processing)may be included.

Furthermore, it is possible to create a computer program that causes thehardware such as CPU, ROM or RAM which are built in the PC 10, theportable device 20, the cellular phone 40 or the point distributionserver 50 to perform the equal function to each configuration of the PC10, the portable device 20, the cellular phone 40 or the pointdistribution server 50 described above. Further, a storage medium whichstores such the above computer program may be provided.

1-2. (canceled)
 3. An information processing apparatus connected with awireless communication apparatus capable of receiving a radio wavecontaining a base station ID transmitted from a base station of wirelesscommunication, comprising: a location information input portion to inputlocation information indicating a given location; an acquisition portionto acquire base station information, containing a base station ID, of abase station transmitting a radio wave having a wave reaching rangeincluding the location indicated by the location information input tothe location information input portion, from a first memory storing aplurality of pieces of base station information of base stations; and anoutput portion to output the base station information acquired by theacquisition portion to the wireless communication apparatus.
 4. Aprogram for causing a computer to serve as an information processingapparatus connected with a wireless communication apparatus capable ofreceiving a radio wave containing a base station ID transmitted from abase station of wireless communication, the information processingapparatus comprising: a location information input portion to inputlocation information indicating a given location; an acquisition portionto acquire base station information, containing a base station ID, of abase station transmitting a radio wave having a wave reaching rangeincluding the location indicated by the location information input tothe location information input portion, from a first memory storing aplurality of pieces of base station information of base stations; and anoutput portion to output the base station information acquired by theacquisition portion to the wireless communication apparatus. 5-11.(canceled)